The Hammer, A Hare and Passing Sorrow: Burdens
Part 1 March 1017 Lidiya stood facing the massive double doors, it's solid iron bars blocked her road at the door step. She tugged on the rope to her right and took a deep and anxious breath as the bell chimed inside. She felt ill and anxious. It was an unusual feeling for her but recent events had tested her godly will. She fidgeted with her coat and took a deep and audible sigh. "Nex. Are you sure he will remember you?" She looked to her left at Nex who stood at her side. His face was pale and deep dark bags circled his reddish brown eyes but he held a smile and responded cheerfully, "Trust me. I made this guy look like a god in the arena. No one forgets dealing a thrashing like that." He turned his head and grinned even larger, his youthful figure peeked through on his cleanly shaven face. Lidiya calmed slightly and turned back to the door. "I am still unsure how I feel trusting a man you only met once." She unfastened the strap around her new dagger. "A man you only met once. For ten minutes. Four years ago!" She raised her voice slightly to show she was disgruntled but would not dare to risk being truly mad lest she blow an ice pillar through the door, or worse. Nex laughed and looked upon the Hammer symbol carved in the door. "Do you see this?" Lidiya's anger grew a little more, "Nex, are you listening? I am not sure of this man." She turned her body to face him; Nex remained facing the door, his face showed the thought of a man deep in a memory. He chuckled again and spoke, "I am listening and I am trying ''to prove a point." Nex pointed to the Hammer carving, "Do you see that, the precision? The dedication?" Lidiya turned her head to look at the work. She had not really looked at it closely yet, it was a magnificent carving. "Can you imagine the skill of the warrior capable of this amount of care?" Nex spoke as he turned his body to face hers on the door step. "He takes just as much care in defeating his opponent as he does in carving that door." Nex lifted his tunic and pointed to a scar on the right side of his sternum, "The simple fact that I survived that fight means he will remember me." Lidiya paused in her own moment of quiet reflection. "What if he wont help us?" She was concerned; although Oden, as a nation, was friendly to the "God's cause" not all shared that belief. ''The Hand of Men occupied this territory and would gladly capture a proclaimed prophetess for any number of reasons, especially a prophetess claiming to be Unquala herself. "Have I ever steered us wrong?" Nex joked. They looked to each other again, Lidiya stared with a stern gaze and Nex paused with a semi-convincing look of innocence. The stare was broke as both cracked smiles and took a moment to laugh at the situation they found themselves in. Nex breathed deep and exhaled with vigor. "Besides...what is the worst that could happen?" The massive double doors swung opened and the smell of the buttered bread of Brill filled their noses... Part 2 November 1015 Fire swirled around her head as her reanimated husks fell lifeless miles away. An energy unlike anything she had ever felt jumped from her chest into her right arm and out onto the ground. Ice shot up from beneath her. The mixed howl of a torn beast cracked through the swirly gusts of fire and ice. Visions passed her mind's eye like flashes of lightning: A tall, broad man dressed in thick furs and straps of leather looked out over the frozen tundra. The many braids of his beard and mane of hair collected the flakes of an impending snow storm as they swept past his face. He gazed long into the barren wastes; Lidiya stood next to him and looked out to the mountains far away in the North. She stood at the mountains base alone. A heavy storm filled the air and she struggled to discern the mountain from the sky. In a small patch of clarity she witnessed a cave opening quickly shut by a beast with piercing green eyes. The snow was gone. Lidiya now stood at the gates of Blackmist castle. Behind her stood an Army of Darkmoon Saints. The gates ahead opened with fury and out struck a swell of Saints; behind them a slim woman with jet black hair whispered in Lord Commander Renly's ear. She closed her eyes. Silence. She opened them to a dark room, again she stood with the man from the snow. His beard and hair whitened, not from snow but from wisdom. He smiled and extended his hand. Lidiya looked around the vast room as it lightened in her view. She had never been there but knew it to be a Sept, and one of great importance. She extended her hand to the man- "M'lady Lidiya!" The voice was faint; far away, "Lidiya are you alright?!" She opened her eyes. Truly opening them this time, she came back to the world. Malek'Reth's point lay inches from her face; most of the blade was encased in ice which had formed around her. Blood soaked the front of her body and gathered in a pool beneath her. "I am fine Garradir but I need to be alone." She spoke with out looking up. A quick flash of a white mask hit her like a punch. "Please let us take you to elsewhere, it is no--" Garradir was cut off. "Gather the camps together and inform me when the other 's arrive." Her mind raced. Visions and memories she had never had flooded in a torrent of revelations. "I..." Noticing Lidiya was no longer paying attention to him Garradir left the tent and began preparing the men. Unable to contain her emotion she cried softly, trying to process all she now knew. --- The night passed without incident. The woods to the North and East of camp remained eerily quiet. In the morning Lidiya had regained her composure and called a small meeting of her Generals. She had moved from her Ice pillar and pulled up the only remaining chair to sit beside it. She feverishly wrote in a small red leather notebook as the men stood at attention in front of her. Garradir, the Darkmoon, stood at the far left, his hand had not left his sword hilt since Nex had stormed from camp the day prior. Maurice Grecko stood next to him, quiet, at attention, waiting on Lidiya's orders. A little further over, Kunlank Mumarrow, a former noblemen of Arn, adjusted his bracers. Gendry the Fumnite eyed the ice pillar with great curiosity but did not dare touch Malek'Reth; it's blade steamed, slowly thawing itself from the ice. Garradir spoke first. "Lidiya." He began, eyeing her closely with caution. "M'lady?" She scribble a little more before closing the book, as well as her eyes and placed it in her lap under her crossed hands. The men waited for what felt like a lifetime before she spoke. Her eyes remained shut. "What I am about to say will not seem wise. She opened them, her eyes mixed wildly from icy blue to jet black. She could see the men all unnerved. "That is because it is not." She paused again to gauge their expressions. They all looked on in anticipation, except Gendry who continued his inspection. "You all shall lead a small party away from here and into the lands of Gildor. I shall remain here with Nex, whenever he returns, until I deem we are ready to reunite with the rest of you." The men looked on in shock for moment before they burst out with questions and protest. She stood from her chair, and although she stood shorter than all of them she commanded authority like a giant. They stopped the ramble and awaited the chance to speak. "Garradir what say you of this matter? You find my decision not to your liking?" Garradir stood tall and proud, hand still resting upon his sword. "I swore an oath to serve you Lidiya but Nex is an animal. He may have-" He cleared his throat, "Had ''the love of the people of Arn but he is not a good man. I could not abandon my charge, leaving you here with a beast who cannot be controlled." Grecko nodded in approval. Gendry now inspected the sword, still careful not to touch it. "No M'Lady. It is not to my liking." Garradir looked proud and resolute. Kunlank spoke up now, his voice surprisingly deep for a man of his slim stature, "How can we trust that he wont do it again?" "His lack of control is precisely why I must remain here with him." She addressed Garradir first, "He is a good man; I have felt it and seen it but he requires help." Next she addressed Kunlank, "We cannot be certain if or when it will happen again and if it does, I do not think you wish your young boy to be here for it." Kunlank toyed a small opal around his neck and fell silent. "Needs help indeed." Grecko could no longer hold his thoughts, "As an officer of Arn I had seen my share of debauched activity, especially in Briiga, but the stories the other soldiers told of him put them all to shame." Lidiya looked to him but said nothing, her eyes remained fixed now in jet black. Grecko paused, now unsure of what to say, he stumbled slightly over his words, "He- well I heard- Rumor has it he killed nearly fifty people; men, women and even childr-" "That is enough!" The whole of the group turned to Gendry who looked up from behind the sword and pillar. He was not mad but instead looked sad. "Can you not see it? " He motioned to the sword. "If you cannot see it then you must feel it?" Gendry crossed his arms inside his sleeves then moved over to the rest of the group. Lidiya looked to Malek'Reth. She saw again, as clear as it was the day prior, Nex pulling with all his might to free the blade from it's icy embrace. She could not forget his fury, the way he tore and beat at the ice and himself. And his eyes- "The man is plagued with the charge of this burden." Gendry's voice brought her back to the present. "Honestly, with this evil, it is surprising this did not happen sooner." "Then you knew this would happen?" Grecko yelled. Garradir looked to Gendry with shock and surprise. "I have felt a dark presence building as of late and so has she." Lidiya nodded as she sat back down. Now she had seen that dark presence and for what felt like the first time, she was afraid. "It is true." She looked to Garradir, "I have known of the evil within that blade since our first meeting; only after yesterday's events do I truly understand to weight of that evil." Fresh blood teared from her eyes and washed down her cheeks. "Then all the more reason for you to instead come with us!" Kunlank yelled. Garradir followed, "I agree! Blackmist is but a few days journey, we can fly the Darkmoon banner to dissuade Larken forces-" "No!" Lidiya yelled, effectively ending the debate. She knew they were right but they needed Nex, whether they knew it or not yet he could not remain with them as he was. However reckless, however foolish, she would stay and help guide him through the storm. "These are my orders and they will be followed: Kunlank, you are to take the women, children and elderly into Larkenvale, then to Oden; there they can begin again far from the enslavement of the South. When you have established them you may stay and lead the people or return to me. I trust you will do what is best for your son." Kunlank stood up tall only to bow low before her. "Grecko, see our current troops tended and prepped for battle within a years time. You must make for the mountain's near Dol-Baror but stay clear of the Ironborn. The Dwarf folk are hearty but will not follow a God they do not believe in and are particularly hostile to trespassers. After a years time make for Lamium and await me there." His fear was evident yet he stood proud before her and bowed low. "Garradir, you will be going to Gildor. Raise an army; find me every man and woman willing to raise a sword for Unquala. We will need highborn favor as well if we are going to see Rhivic." He bowed slightly and very slow. She looked to the three men in front of her, each was filled with uncertainly. You did not need to be a God to see it. "Go now with the will of the Seven and the whisper of Unquala's favor." The men looked to her then to one another before quietly exiting one after the other. Garradir, last to exit, paused at the tent's entrance for a moment as if to speak but instead said nothing and continued out. Lidiya opened her book, wrote a few quick runes and notes then, closing the book, she turned to Gendry who still stood awaiting his orders. "I have a very special task for you." She was stern and talking almost at a whisper. Gendry moved closer to her and bowed low, rising he spoke, "What would you have of me, Mother of Sorrow." Lidiya rose to meet him, her blood soak visage reminiscent of the walking corpses of Autumn City. "Gendry...." She trembled as she spoke; blood ran anew down her cheeks. "We will not complete this journey alone.....I need you to find my ''Sister." Part 3 July 1016 Their bodies whipped and thrashed through the water. The blast of horns and the failing yell of soldiers was heard in sparse doses as they rushed from the depths momentarily, only to be thrust back down under the surface. Soon the horns and yells were lost, the torch light was gone and the moon was hidden. They found the shore only after the river had finished with them and spat the duo out onto it's banks. They coughed and choked, spitting the river from their lungs. Blood ran from both and mixed with the rain into the river. As soon as the air returned to them they were off, Lidiya limping Nex along. Thunder roared and cracked the sky as the late hours of night turned to the budding hours of the morning and still the storm pressed. Their clothes clung to the skin, wet and cold with the chilled breeze of Autumn already on the rise. Lidiya felt the weight of Nex pushing her boots deeper into the mud with each step. She drove forward, determined as an old oak, rooted to her cause. The beautiful willows of Northern Larkenvale swayed in the wind, soaking in the fresh rain to strengthen their roots. The branches blew at the duo's backs almost ushering them through the woods. The storm breathed massive gusts over the land all morning until suddenly it broke without warning and parted to make way for blue skies and chirping birds. Farmer's rejoiced for the boost for their crops and commoners lushed on their nearly full water basins. The animals of the wood emerged and stirred with life in the storm's wake, skipping to and fro with chipper haste. The Sun's gift of heat dried the duos clothes to muggy dampness that soaked the humidity from the air. Nex walked on his own now, limping and leaning on a large crooked stick. The new life of the woods seem to raise his sullen spirit and he spoke. The first words to be spoken since they tumbled from the bridge: "Well," he began. Lidiya looked to him, her face stained in mixed trails of mud, blood and rain. "I have a good feeling about today." Lidiya pushed him and almost immediately he was on the ground in a splash of mud. With his walking stick he took her legs out from under her and she fell on her rump with grunt. The two looked at each other with fierce gazes that quickly turned to smiles as the rage passed. Nex fell to his back and breathed heavy. Lidiya sat leaning to one side, her hand caked in fresh mud. With the other she wiped sweat from her brow and threw her bandanna off. She looked Nex over: His calf still bled slightly and his tattered slave clothes were covered in filth. Malek'Reth's dark, black crystal handle poked out from behind ripped coverings; the gem at it's base, half enclosed in black crystal, shone in spiraling shades of red and purple. Nex's face was dirty and his beard was messy and ragged. He pushed a handful of wet hair back over his head; he had lost the tie for his tail in the river. Shining behind it all was his smile and a fire in his red, brown eyes. "Indeed," she spoke in return. "It looks like the storm has passed for now." She returned his smile and the two burst into a sudden fit of euphoric laughter. Together they laughed long in the mud looking up to the blue sky and the woods around them. After awhile the laughter died off and the duo made to stand up. Lidiya's eyes ran red once more and Nex carelessly wiped the blood away leaving a streak of bloody mud across her cheek. She giggled then looked off into the woods with a somber stare. For once Lidiya did not have a plan. She was certain they were going to make it over the Firestone without trouble but even the best laid plans can be brought down. She thought of the territory and of their options. The territory was wild and while the options were many, the good ones were seemingly non-existent. It seemed Nex sensed her uncertainty, he stood up tall and proud, as if he no longer felt the pain in his body. The sun seemed to peak through the trees upon them as he rose. Looking down he extended his hand, "Come on, we can reclaim no thrones in the mud of Larkenvale." LIdiya reached out and took his hand, he lifted her up, stumbling slightly under his wounds. Despite the exhaustion the two maintained their footing and prepared to go on. Lidiya looked to Nex and question, "Where are we to go from here?" The feeling of being lost struck her pride and deep down she felt sick. Nex looked out west then back to her, "We will make for Oden." His voice was strong, Lidiya looked to him puzzled but he gave his most convincing smile. "I know a man that can help." --- 8 months later --- The smoke of many fires rose from the city like a winter ghost. Brill was alive with the warmth of spring on the rise and across the river Lidiya and Nex made ready to greet the city. An old windmill upon the hillside looked down at the city, it was here they had found refuge a few weeks prior. In the months since U'Quin the duo had trekked back and forth across the lands south and west of Saunter Mount and along the east coast of Hoa-Hanor. The journey had been surprisingly uneventful; Larken soldiers lost their trail months back and no sign was seen of the mysterious one-armed man, though a dark cloud of dread seemed to hover over them from his surprising amount of knowledge on them. In truth, this latest stretch of the journey had been hard on them and was taking its toll, however, things were coming together again; Lidiya's generals reported back with positive news, The Hand of Men had, thus far, caused them no trouble and Lidiya's plan seemed to be falling into place perfectly again. Tread cautiously. ''Lidiya reminded herself often. '' She pushed through the half a door at the windmill's front and found Nex looking down on Brill; his beard and hair was now a long mess of tangle threads, his face was cold and hard as stone. She took a place beside him on the hill and looked down to Brill. The wind barked and swirled in the early hours of the day and an overcast sky clouded the Sun from view. Without looking to her he began to talk. "You know every man I have killed." He stated. Yes it was true, she did. Are the dreams still plaguing you Nex? ''She thought but could not bring her self to speak so she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Shut up!" He yelled to nothing. Lidiya did not flinch, she knew of ''that poisoned voice. Since they had left U'Quin Nex had returned to carrying Malek'Reth at all times, even as he slept the blade was not out of arms reach. The voice of Maleka now buzzed a constant tone of murder into Nex's head. Lidiya had taught him ancient sayings of The Sojourn and powerful prayers to fend of his advances but the consistent whispers were draining Nex's will once again. He looked up to where the Sun should be, "So many...." Pain was in his voice and she felt his body shake as a chill ran through him. He had taken many lives but none that had not asked for death at the end of a blade. The blood of the innocent is not on your hands. ''She wanted to tell him but knew he would not listen, he still felt responsible, even after all these years. '' "Nex..." She spoke at length, standing to place herself in front of him. She raised his head with her hands and made him look at her. Of all your pains, the deepest ones are those you inflict on yourself. "....You need to..." His eyes glistened with sorrow and she thought it better to joke him from his stupor. Combat evil with joy and joy shall overcome. "You need to cut the ragged mess before we get to Brill." "Ha!" He pulled his face from her hands and rubbed the wetness from his eyes. "I think you are right." He said standing up, "As always." His smile had returned and the sorrow seemed to leave him. "Come on. You will be able to cut this mess better than I." He walked over to the windmill and kicked a moss grown crate to the side to take a seat. Lidiya pulled the dagger from her belt and walked to him as he splashed water on his face from the basin beside. After an hour or so of trimming and shaving Nex had returned to the smooth faced young man Lidiya had met nearly three years ago. "I had almost forgotten the feeling of a smooth skin." Nex joked as his fingers rubbed his chin. He looked down to the tuffs of hair on the ground as the last clumps blew away in the wind. "So passes Garrah..." He said, seeming almost sad. After a few more days of preparation the duo finished the last necessaries before leaving their humble windmill abode. They walked side by side down the hill onto a small trail that lead into the town from the eastern side. The town was small and gave off the aura of a place long passed it's prime yet still strong with ancient pride. The townsfolk moved about their daily business beside a mild Hand of Men presence that runs the town; White Hand banners where hung on every home and shop. Nex and Lidiya hid their faces underneath large hoods to keep from the prying eyes as they searched the streets for the Hammerind home. As they pushed to the other side of town the duo ran headlong into rowdy group of Hand of Men mercenaries, still drunk from the previous night, roughing around in the middle of the street. "Just keep walking." Nex whispered as he pulled his cloak tighter around himself. Lidiya made no sound but continued next to him. The soldiers were deep in drunken discussion about the state of Lancerus as of late. The captain, and the drunkest of the bunch, was loudly disputing a younger soldiers opinion when he noticed the duo. "Ise' here when ole Champion Darkmoon still wore a white.. huk...a white hand an' I tell you, even on me worse day I-" The group fell silent as they passed, then the captain yelled out to them. "Oi, girl!" He called to Lidiya but she kept walking, her head down. The Captain motioned to his men and they walked in front of the duo's path. Lidiya's head remained bowed but she could see Nex moving beneath his cloak, likely preparing to attack. The captain strode over to address them, "We ain' seen your like around these parts." he placed a hand on Lidiya's shoulder as he rounded in front of them. "Always nice to remind new folk about our protection tax." He smiled a wide grin of crooked yellow teeth and extended a hand toward Nex. Before Nex could react Lidiya had dropped a coin purse in the man's hand. "That should suffice for the remainder of our stay." She quickly placed her hand on Nex's back and pushed him through the wall of soldiers, who stood aside dumbfounded and unsure of what to make of them. "Many thanks, M'Lady, consider ye' tax settled." She did not see but he eyed her lustfully until they were out of sight. Before long the duo had found the Hammerind home. A large wood and steel door stood before them, the Hammerind emblem carved meticulously in the wood. Lidiya gazed at the door and in a rush of emotion she felt her anxiety rise as she pulled the rope to her right; the chime of a bell alerting the occupants of their presence. With a deep breath she sighed and prepared for the next step. "Nex. Are you sure he will remember you?" Previous Chapter Garrah's Remorse Next Chapter The Hammer, A Hare and Passing Sorrow: Friends and LionsCategory:Character lore